1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of cooking. More particularly, the invention pertains to an apparatus and method for cooking foodstuff such as French fries in the absence of cooking oil.
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention is concerned primarily with the preparation of the side dish commonly known in the US as “French fries”, or “fries” and in British English as “chips”. Fries are distinguished from “potato chips” (or British potato crisps) by their shape, and by their method of production, distribution, and consumption. Fries are typically made from sections of raw or blanched potato that are larger than the thin slices from which potato chips are produced. Furthermore, fries are produced in small batches for hot consumption within minutes of preparation while potato chips are produced in much larger batches, or in a continuous process, and are packaged and distributed for later consumption at room temperature. The present invention is concerned with the production of French fries (hereafter referred to simply as “fries”) rather than potato chips.
Fries are typically produced from prism shaped potato pieces. Normally, the prisms have cross sections of about ⅓ inch by ⅓ inch, but may range from about ⅙ inch by ⅙ inch to about 9/16 inch by 9/16 inch, their lengths normally range from about 1 inch to about 6 inches. Commonly, the fries are partially cooked, then frozen, transported, and stored, and final frying is performed shortly before consumption by immersing them for several minutes in cooking oil heated to 175° C. to 200° C.
Fries produced by this method absorb a significant quantity of the oil in which they are cooked and consequently have a high fat content that makes them a relatively unhealthy food. For reasons of improved health and nutrition it would be desirable to lower the fat content of French fries.
Previous attempts have been made to reduce the fat content of French fries. Approaches that have been tried include precooking of the potato pieces prior to frying. Precooking can include blanching, microwaving or baking. Precooking reduces the amount of time the pieces must be submerged in cooking oil, and can therefore lower the fat content of the finished product. Various coatings have also been devised to try to limit the amount of oil absorbed onto the potato surface. Another approach involves cooking the potato pieces by microwave radiation, followed by spraying the surface of the pieces with hot oil (U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,542). All of these approaches still rely on oil to complete at least a portion of the cooking, and therefore still yield a product containing a substantial amount of fat.
There remains a need for a method suitable for the production of fat-free or low fat versions of French fries.